Mars Curiosity rover touched down

re:

by Thom Hartmann A...

Aug. 6, 2012 12:50 pm

Seven minutes of terror turned into seven minutes of accomplishment last night as the Mars Curiosity rover touched down on the red planet to begin two years of experimentation into whether or not the planet once held life.

The Mars Science Laboratory – as it’s officially called – lifted off from Earth last November – and ended its several hundred million mile journey at roughly 1:30 am eastern time - touching down flawlessly on the Martian surface in an area known as Gale Crater.

Unfortunately, this may be NASA’s last ditch effort at space exploration, as the future of space travel includes budget cuts and a new partnership with the private sector focusing on commercial space exploration – rather than scientific discovery. As in, space will soon be the place where billionaires can cut a fat check and take a ride in orbit.

Comments

re: Mars Curiosity rover touched down

by Karolina

Aug. 6, 2012 1:07 pm

Did anyone watch the Mars landing on NASA.gov? Mostly what I saw was massive jubilation among the staff at the Jet Propulsion Lab/NASA. There were two pictures transmitted, one of which showed a shadow of the rover on Mars' surface. Everything went according to plan...

It's amazing we could have done it all with no budget! Imagine what we could be doing if there were a serious commitment to scientific research, again!

re: Mars Curiosity rover touched down

Did anyone watch the Mars landing on NASA.gov? Mostly what I saw was massive jubilation among the staff at the Jet Propulsion Lab/NASA. There were two pictures transmitted, one of which showed a shadow of the rover on Mars' surface. Everything went according to plan...

It's amazing we could have done it all with no budget! Imagine what we could be doing if there were a serious commitment to scientific research, again!

re: Mars Curiosity rover touched down

I thought that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) made huge cutbacks to the Mars Mission last February. Was that a cancellation of future Mars Missions planned for 2016 and 2018?

I can't believe these morons are privatizing outer space. It is insane. I hope this success will inspire a reinterest in serious scientific reasearch and expansion of the US space program, and not just joy rides for billionaires. For one thing, protecting earth from the danger of various space debris hitting us, is a strong enough reason to continue the program.

One of the really weird ironies of politics these days is the huge divergence between what the American people actually want and what the radical right-wingers in Washington actually do. You won’t hear this on Fox So-Called News, but right now the American people are as progressive as they ever have been.